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I'm scheduled for my VSG on February 2nd. I'm almost a week into my pre-op diet and managing okay. One of my challenges is that I live in the Netherlands as my husband works here and I don't speak Dutch super well. The post-op guidance here is also different from what I've read online for North America and the Mexico clinics so it's a little harder to use online resources. The foods Dutch people regularly eat are different than I'm used to from North America so this might be one of the reasons. For example the diet for the first 2 weeks post op is called a high-fat liquid diet where it suggests a low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese for lunch, 1 dairy product for mid morning and mid afternoon snack and for dinner pureed potato, meat and veg, followed up with another dairy product for snack after dinner. After that diet for 2 weeks they suggest building up to solids.

I am going in this morning for the sleeve. I was good up till this past Monday and Wed where I always in complete freak out Mode. I talked to a couple of people who have had the surgery and that put my mind at ease. I have been good and confident the rest of the week. Remember you are choosing this surgery to take control back. To get Healthier for a long life ahead of you. Try to wrap your head around that and you will be in better head space. You just have to get through the pre diet which I breezed through losing 15lbs and the first few weeks. My people say it gets much better and it’s a decision you will not regret especially after you see your numbers go down. Good luck to you

Looking for advice, will try to be brief. Thank you for allowing me to join your community! As the title explains, I have had two operations in the last 12 years. I have had issues with alcohol in the past which led to my revision. Anyway, I will complete a 'my story' post soon. Today I am trying to determine if what I am experiencing is normal or not. Thank you, in advance, for your candid advice. I developed GERD-like symptoms about nine months ago. I tried to moderate it with diet (less spicy / tomato), a few rounds of Prilosec. About seven months ago I gave up all alcohol in-part due to the painful symptoms. I had greatly moderated from my two bottle a day heyday, but I still drank. I am proud of my progress, but meetings may be in my future. At three months, Dr. ordered an endoscopy. I had the procedure October 30, 2021. Results showed that I was inflamed, but no ulcers. 'Just stay on Prilosec, forever if you have to' is the advice I received. After endoscopy, I decided to give up all carbonated drinks (I was hooked on about 100+ ounces a day of Diet Dr. Pepper). My go-to drink is now water. Also have added a lot of unsweetened iced tea and some coffee. A few days after New Year, my appetite started to decline. Just the thought of food was making me not feel well. I work from home and I fell into a habit of: one yogurt in the AM, protein drink at noon if hunger strikes, then just maybe 10 bites of anything around 4pm. Dinner at 7, maybe 20 bites over two hours. Hunger pains come on strong at times, but go away fast with 2-4 bites of anything.. As of today, Jan 23, my appetite is still just about 30% / 40% of what it was. I still find myself feeling like I have to 'force' myself to eat sometimes. Nothing sounds or tastes very good. I had a colonoscopy in December. Came back normal with one non-issue polyup (sp). Last week, I ran out of Prilosec. I decided to see if maybe I could get away with an as-needed solution. Big mistake. For the last three nights I have been awakened with extreme pain in my stomach. I have been taking Pepcid and Rolaids / Tums as needed. I plan to restart Prilosec tomorrow. Not sure why my stomach is still on fire??? I have a rather bland meat and potato diet. I quit alcohol and all carbonated drinks. Maybe a liquid fast and 100 Hail Mary's? This is my theory about my appetite issue: I think giving up the pop has resulted in far less bloating in my small stomach. Perhaps this has allowed it to heal back to a normal, or less inflamed, size. I cannot eat as much, but if I space out my eating, I'm sort of fine. I'm not sure about the mental aspects of this situation or how they corollate in parallel to the physical issues. However, the last time I felt this way (loss of appetite, could barely eat) was just before my emergency revision. Thankfully I have not developed the abdominal pains of that episode, just the eating issue. Just for context: I am a 47 year old male, about 260 pounds. I worry about constriction due to scar tissue, I was warned to look out for this. Thank you for any thoughts or advice! Matt

I think I started eating fruit once I was in the regular food stage which, I believe, started about 6 weeks after surgery. Then my plan called for the following: Avoid eating over 1000 the first year. 1000 calorie meal plan: 7 meat/protein servings 1 milk serving 3 starch servings 2 fruit servings 2 non starchy veggie servings 2 healthy fat servings Then it gave page long examples of the types of foods and their serving size for each category. Says for fruit (since you specifically asked about that): Unless otherwise noted below (which it was referring to the large list of fruits on the page) one serving of fruit is 1/2 cup fresh fruit or 1/4 cup of dried fruit. As of now, and as per my nutritionist (since being in a VERY long stall), I am eating 800 cals a day (sometimes go to 1000), 50 grams of carbs (sometimes under, sometimes over but never more than 75), and 70 grams of protein. However, lately I've been upping my protein greatly, around 100-125 grams a day, and I do believe it's starting to help me break my 2.5+ month long stall.

Kurt, my man! Easy! You'll get there. Aside from the physical stuff so excellently covered by the kind people above - take a deep breath. You just had a huge part of a hormone-producing organ taken out - consider you could be recalibrating hormones and this will affect your mental state. Upside for the guys; in a few weeks or months, you'll experience the male post-bariatric testosterone boost. It'll be like you're 16 again, for better and worse. Just watch yourself from the outside a bit, take a deep breath, follow your plan, get your fluids, get your sleep, laugh at the comical stuff we experience on this ride. And yeah, strap yourself in, it's a hell of a ride. A good one, usually.

I am tracking everything in myfitness pal. The least I have eating in a day is a little over 500 calories and the most right under 800 and I get at least 60 grams of protein even though I know it is supposed to be a minimum of 90. It is just so difficult! My doctor said it is normal to just intake that many calories at first but I don’t know why the stall in weight loss. It is so weird and I am so discouraged! I know it will get better though! It just has to!

I am postop day 6 and I’ve been achy. I am on a full liquid diet now. I will be on it for a week. Today has been rough. I’ve been very emotional and have been doing a little too much today. I know it will get better. Everyone who’s going through it keep pushing forward.

I’m glad to be back in here too. My vsg was on 5/25/2016. I got pregnant and had my daughter 8/14/17. I love my baby but it really messed up my sleeve and as of a couple weeks ago I’m almost back to my surgery weight. I went back to basics and have lost down to 189. (I was 200 on surgery day). Who couldn’t use the prayer of brothers and sisters in Christ!

60-90 minutes of cardio a day and working out 7x a week seems like too much to be consistent and it isn't necessary! Consistency and sustainability are key for muscle building, don't burn yourself out! I have been doing a workout regimen of 5-6 days per week, 30 mins cardio (running or spin bike) and 30 mins strength. Sometimes I'll change it up and do a 45/15 min breakdown. I have been doing solely Peloton rides, runs, and strength training and started to see definition after about 4-6 months. I do focus days vs. full body, i.e. "glutes and legs" one day, "arms and shoulders" another, "core another" and usually add in a yoga day for recovery and flexibility. Combined with a high protein diet this has worked well for me. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I’m just over 2 weeks post op and I seem to have hit a wall! It’s good to see it will pick up again but my god I am so discouraged!

Yep, I've had tons of problems after my bypass. Had it in Oct and have basically been throwing up everything since. I've had 3 EGDs and found a huge ulcer at the anastamosis, hernia and severely malnutritioned. Was admitted to the hospital for a week on IVs and had a feeding tube placed for 3 weeks until I pulled it out. I'm going on 4 months of hell. I have to do weekly bloodwork and 6hr long Infusions of potassium and magnesium because they're so low. My protein is low as well but strangely not too bad. I regret this so much & at this point Dr's are considering reversal. Sent from my SM-G986U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hello! My program has been getting patients up to/over 1200 cals asap. I have been on solid foods since week 4. My program focuses more on texture, and what to have more often vs less often (ie Protein vs say candy). I have grapes usually everyday, and a small banana. My carbs per day is between 120-150 usually, with 80-107g of protein. Weight loss is slower now, as I am at 10 months post op...but I have lost 120 lbs thus far, with that amount of carbs and calories pretty much the entire time. I eat potatoes, pasta and rice, and bread....just significantly less and less often than I used to. Hope that helps!

Hope you're feeling better after your emergency surgeries! Are you tracking your food? I use the Baritastic app and I notice I stall if I don't track and hit my protein goal. I had my surgery on October 11, and I'm a slow loser because I have a disability and don't get in much physical activity. So long as you're not eating over your calories and getting enough protein though you're on the right track.

My husband and I had covid 13 months ago and 3 weeks ago he caught the omicron variant. Take a test. I hope you get to the bottom of it and feel better soon

Am I crazy or has this happened to you to? Well, not that those things are mutually exclusive. LOL! 😀 I remember the first time I did Weight Watchers (WW) 20 years ago and I wasn't losing and it was because I wasn't using all my daily allowance of points. So the counselor told me to eat MORE, which I thought was crazy, but she was right and when I ate ALL of my daily points, I actually lost more weight. Here I am now post-WLS sleeve VSG and starting over again after gaining weight during COVID and giving WW another try and I'll be darned if it's not still true. I wasn't using my Weekly Points and I was stalled, but as soon as I started eating MORE, I started losing again. Why is that? I still don't understand it. I certainly wasn't starving myself at around 1,000 calories per day. Does anybody know why it works this way? Has this happened to you too?

It worked out for me. I used to have 2 migraines a week. Haven't had one in two years. I used to have GERD, it's gone. I used to have sleep apnea. No longer have it. I used to have borderline high blood pressure. Now my BP is normal.

Don't worry this is normal! You're taking in so few calories that you feel dizzy and the surgery and aftermath is a lot to go through emotionally. I was really dizze the first two weeks after surgery and I even had to put a chair in the shower. I know everyone says to walk but don't walk if you're feeling like this. Instead just get up once an hour and move around your house. As you're able to eat and drink a little bit more things should get better.

So, my program has me on fruits and veggies and even grain if one can tolerate right from month 2. I don't do much grain (may be once a week) since I don't like eating it much. Though based on our outlined eating schedule, we should take 3 to 4 servings of fruits (depending how we tolerate ofc). I don't have any issue with tolerating any ofthe fruits (I don't dump). But ofc if I do that my carbs shoot quite high especially cuz I am vegetarian and I get my protein mostly from dairy (yogurt, milk, cottage cheese and other cheese), which again has significant carbs. My average net carbs are between 60 to 70 grams. Anyhow, so I was wondering how did y'all carry your carbs during the weight loss phase? And when did you introduce fruits and veggies in your diet?

I had reflux before my sleeve surgery but it is a stage before gerd. I also managed it with dietary choices & only had symptoms if I made poor food/drink choices. I still have reflux post surgery but it manifests differently. I take Nexium every day whereas prior to surgery I only took it as needed (months between taking one). It generally manages it except for a little throat burning late at night or early morning 4 or 5 times a week. But this is a conversation to have with your surgeon as they will be best placed to assess the severity of your gerd & the possible risks of worsening your gerd having sleeve surgery versus RNY.

Let me first start off by saying yes, I DO plan on running this by my doc and/or my surgeon soon. But, a few weeks ago I sorta took a deep breath, held the air as I filled/ my abdomen, then sorta pushed my stomach out (think lower stomach area), if that makes any sense, and immediately got this tearing/burning sensation to the right of my belly button. It sorta reminded me of that feeling most of us got/had shortly after surgery. I had not felt this feeling since then until now. But yeah, every time I would breathe deeply, hold my breath, then push my abdominal cavity I would feel this. So I stopped doing it, of course. I remember this similar feeling after surgery and even mentioning it to the surgeon and was told it was just due to sutures and whatnot inside and possibly the nerves healing and that it would go away. Anyway, I was feeling ok since I stopped doing that and it didn't give me any further issues until today when I bent over to give the dog some water and my fat roll/stomach kinda scrunched up between my upper thighs and my upper stomach and again, I felt immediately that sharp, burning/tearing sensation to the right of my belly button. Not sure what to think about it. It does not hurt when lifting anything heavy and so far my husband and I cannot seem to feel a lump/bulge or anything when palpitating the area. I do not feel nauseous, fever, nothing off that would indicate a hernia or some similar problem. HOWEVER, having said that, when I did have my surgery my surgeon did say he saw a small hernia in that are but said that he did not think it would be a problem so he didn't do anything with it. But now I half wonder if its that, or is it a muscle tear? I just don't know. Has anyone experienced something similar? Again, I am 8 months out now so I'd imagine all healing inside should have been completed LONG ago.

Gee, that sounds very similar, although they told me (on this WEIRD group chat) that I could set everything for ASAP. Won't it be fun if that isn't correct? I have endoscopy, sleep study, cardiac clearance, upper GI, some other lung study (X-ray?) to do. I have a sneaking suspicion I'm going to have to carbo-load near the end of this stress, just to ensure that I don't lose too much weight. The whole 'lose but not too much!' thing is likely to drive me batty! Plus it seems extremely unproductive and antithetical to learning new habits. Trying to stay positive, but like I say, I'd prefer to type-A it, making specific goals of weight per week, IF they tell me the 'by when' date for losing.

So I am a little freaked out about my insurance. Surgery is scheduled for 2/3, and I am super excited now that I am on the liquid diet. (I think it seems real now.). But, I learned today that unless and agreement is reached between the hospital and Anthem in the next week or so, the hospital will not be in-network on February 1!

Sounds like mine tho my insurance wont cover it and i am paying cash. Tho i thought by paying cash it would be quicker. My 1st appointment was last month wtih the surgeon. Was not even 5 minutes. I had to go pick up a binder at another office with all the information. I had to do that Nutrition class which was completely pointless and useless. It was 40 minutes on zoom with some other people telling me the same things i already knew thru youtube videos (there went $400) As for labs and such they sent me that a few weeks later thru the mail but warned me not to do them yet because apparently the labs and other stuff like xrays and EKG were only good for say 30 days. If i did it too early i would have to redo them. But yea i got no diet to follow either. They said that would be a part of the 2nd surgeon appointment. Next up i have a psychological evaluation in March. After that if everything is good then i can make my 2nd surgeon appointment where they will look over everything and let me know if we can schedule surgery or not.

Hi, I just started with a Bariatric Center with the goal of gastric sleeve, and I'm confused enough it's frustrating. Had my first visit with surgeon, he told me that for my insurance, I should lose 10 lbs (no more without endangering my insurance).. Seems like it's five months until surgery, possibly six. I then attended a (no lies, pretty bad) online group nutritional presentation, that really skimmed over things like no caffeine and no carbonated bees, and was also informed that I had responsibilities to make ALL my pre op appointments myself, but I haven't been given any list of labs/tests to do so. I have no diet assigned... ? No instructions were specific about what I should be eating right now, but am trying to go for a LOT more protein and a LOT less carbs. Am I supposed to be starting with protein shakes? They mentioned, but no real clear direction. No followup appointments with the bariatric center have been scheduled as yet, no one has returned my call of last week, basically begging for my pre op appointment list. I try to be patient but am definitely a type A person who likes to plan. I am worried about losing too much weight and very confused about what specifically my diet IS. Already down about 2.5 pounds. I don't do well with uncertainty I guess. Also, the changes over the past two weeks, eating less, the ever=present journalling of food, the appointments I have been called for (apparently, not everything was my responsibility), the trying to lessen the caffeine, and my beloved sodastream plain seltzers, is difficult. I'm definitely planning to call the center with more specific questions this week, and in hopes I receive a call back, but can anyone give me a feel for what the first couple weeks in a program are like, and should I relax about what feels like chaos?

Everyone’s preop diet is different. Mine was low fat carb sugar for two weeks and two days liquid and that was hard enough. Some people have to do several weeks liquid. I would just count your blessings if I were you.